Benikage
Benikage (previously called “Bloody Shadow”Rumble Roses Manual. Konami, 2004.) is a playable character in both the original Rumble Roses in 2004 and sequel Rumble Roses XX in 2006. She fights under the subtitle of "Kunoichi" (a female ninja). Her Japanese voice actress is Aki Sasaki. She was dubbed by Lenne Hardt in the first game, with Jessica Gee voicing her in the sequel.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435341/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0952679 Background A mysterious woman with no name or past... Benikage (aka "Bloody Shadow") is an agent of the "Otugumi", a modern day Ninja Unit that trained her in the arts of Ninjitsu. She was sent by the Japanese Government to investigate the activities of the Rumble Roses Organization (while posing as a competitor in the Rose Tournament). Her ultimate goal is to uncover what is really going on behind the scenes...Rumble Roses Manual. Konami, 2004. As she learns more about what is going on, she finds that Anesthesia is at the heart of the all the turmoil being caused around her. She repeatedly crosses paths with the Nurse, and at each encounter grows increasingly outraged by her inhumane and unethical work. Once she becomes aware of the extent of Anesthesia's machinations (such as experimenting on Fujiko Hinomoto to turn her into Evil Rose), Benikage concludes that she is totally evil!http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/929261-rumble-roses-xx/faqs/48903 She goes so far as to declare that Anesthesia is'' The Devil and dedicates herself to defeating her and ending her plans once and for all... Personality Benikage seems to be an extremely serious, taking a simple, no-nonsense approach to everything she does, even when fighting in the ring. Her primary motivation is always the furtherance of her 'mission' to uncover the secret of Rumble Roses. Because of this dedication to the Ninja path, she shows little interest (or understanding) in anything or anyone that isn't critical to the success of her mission. She prefers to avoid unnecessary interactions where possible. And when interviewed, she evades most of the questions by replying with cryptic remarks. She never speaks during her introductions, even going so far as to silently 'kill' the enemy ninjas during her Tag Match intro. She shows almost no emotion when fighting or even winning. As a result, she often appears cold and aloof. There are, however, some signs that she may wish for company, but is constrained by her training. When Noble Rose sugests joining forces against Anesthesia, she seems tempted for a moment, but eventually rejects the offer- saying ''"I work alone." In sharp contrast to this, she reacts with blatant anger and contempt when dealing with Anesthesia. Benikage is clearly offended by the twisted woman's very presence and will fly into a rage at just the sight of her. While normally a woman of few words, she openly threatens Anesthesia/Dr Cutter regardless. (Yasha will behave in exactly the same towards them, given that her artler-ego shares the same desire to fight evil). In Rumble Roses XX, Benikage actually forms an antagonistic tag team with Anesthesia. This is presumably connected with her being 'sold' to Anesthesia by her former colleagues in the first game, resulting in her becoming a shinobi or renegade ninja. Anesthesia in turn has nothing but contempt for Benikage, often taunting her with references to her dog-like mask. Amusingly, the only other notable instance where Benikage can be seen to break character and express a real degree of emotion is when she's competing in the Queen's Matches. While approaching the ring via the wooden boardwalk (during her introduction), Benikage noticably blushes and shies away from the camera. She likely feels exposed when she realizes that she's being recorded, and may also be shy about displaying her skimpy swimsuit to the crowd. Appearance Benikage appears to be in her mid-to-late twenties. She is clearly of Japanese origins, but with no known birthplace (in her interview she speaks mysteriously of a location she refers to only as the 'ninja village'). She has long dark brown/black hair that comes mid-way down her back (with bangs in the front and long forelocks), and brown eyes. She has a well toned but surprisingly voluptuous figure. She is also one of the most fair-skinned characters in the games, perhaps due to spending much of her time concealed in darkness and shadows. When in her standard atire, she wears little or no makeup. She wears a black headband with a white shuriken emblem on it. The lower half of her face is concealed under a protective menpo-style half-mask.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MenpoThe mask shows the snarling jaws of a Japanese Ogre, or Oni. She also wears a long red scarf around her neck with the ends hanging down her back. She's dressed in a swimsuit-style mesh garment- with red and black segments visible underneath (similar to how a bikini is worn). Benikage also has a prominent tattoo of a red rose in bloom, covering the area between her navel and right hip. She wears shiny metal Samurai-style suneatehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Suneate arm guards over her forearms and hands. The black and red guards on her hands have the the same white shuriken emblem on them as her headband. She also wears similar metal-plated suneata guards over her knees and lower legs. She wears black tabi socks and straw sandals with Kôgake armorhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%C3%B4gake_armored_tabi.JPG covering them. The metal plates that cover her knees have the Kanji for "nin" (hidden), the first half of Nin-ja (hidden person).http://www.theartofcalligraphy.com/ninja-kanji.html When Benikage wins enough matches (80+ popularity), she achieves her Super Star mode. Her wring attire becomes even flashier and more exotic. Her dark hair is now up pulled up and tied into a long ponytail. She's also wears dark mascara and purple eyeliner. Benikage now wears an ornate dark blue helmet/mask (similar to a traditional helmet worn by Samurai, called a "Hachi gane"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hachi_gane) that covers most of her face and the front of her head and features a fancy silver crest situated above her eyes.. She also wears what looks like steel-mesh veil over the lower half of her face, with long tassals on either side featuring a shuriken design. She wears a black and silver Yodare-kakehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Yodare-kake style guard down around her neck- with the same curved Shuriken emblems on the segments. She wears a full mesh bodysuit (with illustrative body paint covering certain places) that covers her entire body from head to toe- with no visible joins of opening anywhere. Her shoulders are covered by cobalt-blue segmented metal armor (with red tassels hanging from the edges), similar to the Samurai shoulder armor called sodehttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sode.JPG. She wears matching cobalt blue plate-metal suneate arm and shin guards, tied with red lace and tassels. The armor on her hands (as well as the armor covering her knees) sport the same curved Shurikens symbols. She wears black high-heeled sandals (and very dark blue tabi socks), also covered with matching blue Kôgake foot armor (that are also tied with same red lace). Whenever she goes to the beach to take part Queen's Matches (or Mad Mud Matches, in the case of the first game), she wears a fairly revealing bikini in rose, light gray, green or black (all with a black trim), along with sandals and a pair of sunglasses. It's worth noting that Benikage is the only character who wears sunglasses in the games. This may perhaps indicate that she wears them to conceal her face to some degree- in the same way that her mask did. Strangely, when in this costume, none of Benikage's tattoos or bodypaint is visible on her body... This is unusual, as the Heels usually will clearly sport some form of tattoo on their body- be it their own (such as Rowdy Reiko's snake) or the 'demonic' emblem of The Corporation. Fighting Style ﻿As a ninja, she relies on speed and agility- allowing her to evade her opponent and retaliate with fast puches and kicks. She's also extremely good at reversing attacks and will instantly attack them from their blind spot (usually striking them in the back after moving out of the way of their attack.) As a master of stealth and speed, she's very good for building up an opponent's Humiliation level. Benikage blends ninja illusion techniques in her fighting- such as disappearing in puffs of smoke only to appear behind her attacker. She can perform a special revers technique where she creates a large cloud of smoke around herself (right before her charging foe can reach her), leaving her enemy to tackle a wooden 'substitue' block. It's best to employ an evasive style to fighting, using reverses and and reverse-attacks. There are some disadvantages to Benikage's ninjutsu- especially when fighting a larger, stronger oppenent. While she strikes quickly, she doesn't do a lot a damage, so it takes her longer to wear down her oppenent. Additionally, her lighter build makes her weaker to strikes and holds, so she can easily lose in a war of attrition, and is easily forced into submission. Killer Move *'Chaos Snow:' A powerful strike that utilizes Benikage's abilities as a ninja. First, Benikage jukes behing her opponent. She winds up and delivers a vicious bask elbow to the back. Her opponent cries in pain before falling on their knees and collapsing to the mat. **This move can only be executed by have at least 1 meter filled. **With that being said, this move can be done anywhere, as long as Benikage opponent is on their feet. Lethal Move(s) *'Secret Technique:' A special move that utilizes Benikage's abilities as a ninja. She performs a few hand signs to summon a large toad into the ring. The toad will the proceed to breathe in a lot of air in a vacuum-like ability. The opponent will be sucked into the toad's mouth down to their knees. They'll then begin to kick as the frog proceeds to swallow them whole, before spitting them back out headfirst. **Only Benikge can perform this move. **This move can only be executed by have at least 1 meter filled. **In addition, Benikage must be facing the front of her standing opponent while they are dizzy. **For this move, Benikage summons a brown toad. *'Secret Technique:' A special move that utilizes Benikage's abilities as a ninja. She performs a few hand signs to summon a large toad into the ring. The toad will the proceed to breathe in a lot of air in a vacuum-like ability. The opponent will be sucked into the toad's mouth down to their knees. They'll then begin to kick as the frog proceeds to swallow them whole, before spitting them back out headfirst. **Only SS Benikge can perform this move. **This move can only be executed by have at least 1 meter filled. **In addition, Benikage must be facing the front of her standing opponent while they are dizzy. **For this move, SS Benikage summons a white toad. Humiliation Move *'Rikudou:' A hold that combines Benikage's submission with her striking abilities. First, she brings her opponent to a sitting position and crosses her opponents arms. Benikage then crosses her opponents legs before bringing all four limbs together. As she uses her left leg to immobilize her opponent's arms and legs, Benikage applies a sleeper hold to cut off her opponent's air supply. **Like all Humiliation moves, the opponent must have their Humiliation Meter at full to execute this move.. **This move can only be executed by have at least 1 meter filled. **With that being said, this move can be done anywhere, as long as her opponent is on their feet. Entrance Trivia *In the first game's interview feature, when asked about her favorite food, she replies'' "As a ninja, I entertain no notions of desire, except for jello." http://faqs.ign.com/articles/845/845509p1.html *Benikage's original theme ''"The Shadow Appears" was composed, arranged, and performed (in-house) by Konami composer Takayashi Ishikawa. He was credited as dj TAKA. An intrumental version of the song, renamed "Crimson Shadow", was recorded (presumably in-house by Konami) for the sequal in 2006.Rumble Roses Manuel. Konami, 2004.http://vjarmy.com/wiki/index.php/Dj_Taka *In the first game, she is called Bloody Shadow. For the sequel, her name was changed to Benikage- which transleted to Crimson Shadow in Japanese (beni = crimson, kage = shadow). *The association of toads to Benikage is likely linked to the folklore and mythology of the historical ninjas. They had hideouts in the mountains, and the Toads that lived there were believed to mountain spirits . Links were drawn between the toads and ninjas and transferred into popular culture (such as in Naruto). *During her various intros, she's seen wielding a short Ninjatōhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninjat%C5%8D sword, which she uses to fight off the scantily clad female ninjas that attack her on the way to the wring. *She and Candy Cane, are the only two heels who don't don the demonic tattoo. Benikage has never been under Dr. Cutter's influence, but unlike Candy Cane, she truely knows what Dr. Cutter's intentions are. *Her voice actress in the first game, Lenne Hardt, returns as the voice of the ring announcer in the second game. *Her voice actress in the second game, Jessica Gee, previously voiced Aisha and Showbiz in the first game. *Although her origin is unknown to the game, but her country of origin somewhat common knowledge, as in her cutscene intro in the first game says that she worked for a unknown Japanese ministry. *Benikage as Bloody Shadow in the first game has developed an infamous reputation to loudly screaming "NEVER!" when put in a submission hold. References Category:Heels Category:Characters Category:Heroine